Labour MP who branded middle class ‘hypocrites and drunkards’ spends night in a cell after being arrested for drink driving

A controversial Labour MP last night resigned from the party’s frontbench after being banned from driving.

Former Army major Eric Joyce, 50, spent a night in the cells after an unexplained accident near a petro­chemical plant in his Falkirk constituency on ­Thursday night.

It was only earlier this week that Mr Joyce, then the party’s Northern Ireland spokesman, launched an astonishing rant against middle-class voters, branding them drunkards, liars, racists and even paedophiles.

Night in the cells: Unshaven MP Eric Joyce returns home after going straight from a police station to court, where he was fined and banned from driving for failing to give a breath sample to police

A security guard at the Ineos plant in Grangemouth reported that
Joyce, driving a Rover estate, smelled of drink and was ‘not compos
mentis’.

Falkirk Sheriff Court yesterday heard that guards on duty at the
Ineos plant called police after the MP approached their gatehouse
around 11.15pm.

The politician told the guard: ‘I think I hit something, maybe that roundabout back there.’

When police arrived, he was arrested and taken to Falkirk police
station. Mr Joyce told police he was tired and had just flown up from
London.

Asked whether he had been drinking, he said: ‘I had one of those bottles of wine on the plane, but not excessive.’

Criminal record: Eric Joyce MP was banned from driving

Unshaven and tieless in the dock, Joyce, of Falkirk, pleaded guilty
to failing to provide a sample without reasonable excuse. Banning him
from driving for a year and fining him £400, Sheriff William Gallacher
told Mr Joyce: ‘You brought this situation on yourself.’

Pleas of not guilty were accepted to two other charges: failing to
take a preliminary roadside police breath-test; and causing an oncoming
car to swerve out of his way and colliding with and damaging a
roundabout road sign.

Mr Joyce – who earns £66,000 a year as an MP – was represented by a duty solicitor from the public purse.

Two years ago he was revealed to be Britain’s most expensive MP with an expenses claim for 2007/08 of £187,000.

Mr Joyce said yesterday: ‘I am deeply ashamed of my actions which
were unacceptable and inexcusable. I have been incredibly stupid and
rightly suffered the penalty for it.’

Last night, Labour confirmed that party leader Ed Miliband had
accepted his resignation. Earlier this week Mr Joyce came under fire
for launching an astonishing attack on middle-class voters who attacked
lying politicians, claiming they may be hypocrites ‘living lies’ at
home.

On the Labour Uncut website, Mr Joyce condemned ‘articulate and
intelligent’ parents for putting the interests of their own children
over those of the poor.

He accused parents of hypocrisy for condemning drug use while
drinking too much and said that MPs were right to appeal to the worst
instincts of voters, including racism.

Mr Joyce even condemned attitudes to the danger of paedophiles,
pointing out that most sex offenders target young victims within their
own families.